Cannabis Cup Band Honors Bob Marley

NYC Remembers The Tuff Gong with Annual Tribute Concert by Cannabis Cup Band

On Saturday, February 4, 2017, at B.B. Kings’ Blues Club & Girll, the Cannabis Cup All-Stars Band (CCB) of all-stars, paid tribute to Bob Marley, one of music’s greatest legends. The concert, in its 21st year, exceeded expectations in terms of live performances and high quality instrumentation. Photos & Video After The Jump…

” We have been doing this every year since 1996 and it is a humbling learning experience each time. We started out as infants and then evolved year by year to teenagers now adults, studying Bob’s music like students. This year we had a curfew, and the show went from being a four to a two hour show. We took out massly popular tunes in favor of tunes with strong political messages relevant to this time, like Carla Kelly singing lead on “Babylon System” and tunes like “Dem Belly Full” and “So Jah Say. ” We really care about the integrity of the show.” -Ricky Tepperberg, bandleader and keyboardist

Show highlights included lead vocalist Ras Droppa inviting Gary Nesta Pine, lead vocalist of The Wailers on stage for a vivid rendition of “Lively Up Yourself.” Adriel Williams brought down the house with his smooth cover of “Bend Down Low” and Songtress Keisha Martin’s crowd moving performance of “Turn Your Lights Down Low” was a memorable one.

The superb arrangement of “Simmer Down” with Edizen Archer on lead made for a stellar performance, with a notable horn section featuring Kevin Batchelor on trumpet, James Smith on trumpet, Anant Pradhan on saxophone and Buford O’ Sulivan on trombone.

The show was shorter in length but not noticeably so, in terms of the impact on the crowd. This year’s show seemed totally different from last year, and it was not because of small changes in the all-star line up. The energy from the musicians and audience seemed turned up a notch because of the musical integrity of Bob Marley’s anthology of music in the context of the current political climate in America.